It was observed that both men and women had bicycles.
Even those who lived in the county town and always thought their families were well-off couldn't help but stare intently at the rows of bicycles.
Whispers quickly arose from the surrounding crowd.
"What's their relationship with Zhao Youcai? Why do those guys look so much like him?"
"Are you stuffing donkey hair in your ears? Didn't you hear the most handsome young man call Zhao Youcai 'Dad'?"
"Oh dear, I was so focused on the bicycles that I didn't notice any of this."
"No wonder that young girl insisted on clinging to Zhao Youcai. With his family's financial situation, if I were twenty years younger, I would have followed that girl around and clung to Zhao Youcai too."
"Wake up! What kind of dream are you having, you grown man? You're at most fifty years younger, and you're following Zhao Youcai around calling him grandpa."
Just as everyone was discussing and waiting to see how the drama at Zhao Youcai's doorstep would end, several more people rode bicycles toward them.
However, the situation was completely different from when the Zhao family arrived.
The people coming this way are wearing white shirts and military green trousers, with green hats on their heads, and each of them is wearing a red armband—the standard attire of a Revolutionary Committee member.
The crowd quickly dispersed in all directions, and soon Zhao Youcai's house was quiet.
Zhao Youcai could understand, after all, the Revolutionary Committee had never had a good reputation, and those people were afraid that if they watched the show, they would invite these living devils to their homes.
However, some people's curiosity still prevailed, and they secretly peeked through the crack in the door or stood on tiptoe against the wall, cautiously looking in the direction of Zhao Youcai's door.
To everyone's surprise, the newcomers didn't immediately accuse them of crimes and start beating, smashing, and looting. Instead, they forced a bright, fawning smile.
"Comrade Zhao Youcai, I've been looking for you everywhere! Luckily, one of my men ran into you while he was out shopping, otherwise I wouldn't have known you'd moved to the county town now."
Zhao Youcai was very puzzled, wondering why this group of people had come to his house.
Is it to seek justice for their colleagues who deliberately caused trouble but ended up reaping the consequences?
Seeing Zhao Youcai looking at them warily, the leader quickly smiled and pulled out a ten-yuan note from his pocket.
"This is a small token of our congratulations to Comrade Zhao on moving to his new home. Please accept it."
At this moment, Director Zhu was completely stunned.
Ever since he learned that Zhao Youcai had connections with the prominent figures in the town, he took the initiative to come to the county town to curry favor with the group of people he hated the most.
Unexpectedly, the Revolutionary Committee members turned out to be a bunch of two-faced scoundrels. They accepted all the benefits he offered with a smile while shamelessly flattering Zhao Youcai right in front of him.
"By the way, our director would like to invite Comrade Zhao to the Revolutionary Committee for a while. We can help take care of Comrade Zhao's matter."
Zhao Youcai understood; this wasn't even giving him a chance to refuse.
He noticed that the young policeman from the town was beside him, and Captain Qi's cousin was also standing next to him.
With all his own children still around, the Revolutionary Committee would have to think twice before making a move against him.
Although he didn't know what these people were up to, Zhao Youcai was perceptive enough to know that he couldn't simply refuse them in this situation.
There's no other way; I don't have anyone to rely on, so I can only depend on myself.
Zhao Youcai winked at the children and the young policemen, indicating that he was alright, and then said, "Lead the way, I also want to know which way the Revolutionary Committee's door faces."
The Revolutionary Committee cadre who came to invite the person naturally sensed the dissatisfaction in Zhao Youcai's words, but still smiled and pretended not to hear the other party's sarcasm.
The group arrived at the Revolutionary Committee and went straight to the office of the committee director.
"Hello, Comrade Zhao. I've heard so much about you. My name is Cao Meng. You can just call me Xiao Cao."
Seeing that the other party had extended his hand, Zhao Youcai felt it would be impolite to refuse, so he extended his hand in return.
"Director Cao, you're too kind."
Still calling you Xiao Cao? Are we that close?
If I were to call you Xiao Cao, you probably wouldn't be happy.
Zhao Youcai knew how much these people coveted official positions, so he certainly wouldn't take their politeness as mere formality.
Cao Meng's eyesight improved considerably; he was genuinely worried that Zhao Youcai would take advantage of his kindness.
Although he needed Zhao Youcai's help, what was his own status, and what was the other party's status?
He's just a country bumpkin; he should be grateful if they even respect him.
"We invited Comrade Zhao here today because we wanted to learn some information from him. After all, this matter has caused quite a stir, and our Revolutionary Committee needs to find out the reasons behind it in order to convince the public."
Zhao Youcai's face remained unchanged, but in his heart he was cursing him to death.
Haha!
With your style of doing things, do you think you can win people's hearts?
Is it acceptable to suppress the public with violence and extract confessions through torture to gain their approval?
But when you're under someone's roof, you have to keep your head down and cooperate to finish the performance.
Zhao Youcai was extremely careful, answering each question with utmost caution.
"Comrade Zhao, don't be nervous. We've only asked you about a few things, and we don't intend to do anything else."
Zhao Youcai nodded with a smile, thinking to himself: I don't believe you for a second!
Cao Meng was helpless. He knew how bad the Revolutionary Committee's image was in the eyes of the people, and he didn't want to deal with these people.
But he had to listen to the messages from above, and they had to do everything they could to win over that formidable old man, Zhao Youcai.
"I heard that your village is doing business with the pig farm? And the pigs on the farm are fed with food from your village?"
Zhao Youcai frowned; something about what he said sounded a little off.
Could it be that there's something wrong with the items that were sent?
"It's true that our village sent them, but every single item was inspected by the other party. During the famine a few years ago, people ate these things and were fine."
In other words, it was telling him not to even think about using this kind of thing to frame himself and all the villagers of Zhao Family Village.
Cao Meng quickly waved his hand with a smile, "Comrade Zhao, don't be nervous. We're just asking routine questions. Of course we know that the things sent from your village are fine."
After all, their people and the police had already taken samples of those items and sent them for testing, and the problem was indeed not with those items.
"To be honest, I came to you today to talk about some issues with the farm."
Zhao Youcai remained silent, offering no response whatsoever, which told Cao Meng that Zhao Youcai was indeed a tough nut to crack.
"A major incident has occurred at the breeding farm." Cao Meng paused, and seeing that Zhao Youcai still didn't react, he became even more uneasy.
But since we've already come this far, it would be pointless not to elaborate further.
"Director Zhu secretly raised dozens of pigs and over a hundred chickens without reporting it, so they couldn't get them inspected at the epidemic prevention station. They secretly sold them to several households nearby, and those people who ate the pork and chicken all ended up in the hospital within three days."
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